Ace Combat: Under the Demon's Wings
by TheCrackedoutFirebird
Summary: This is the story of four pilots, thrown into a war of vengence and deceit. They must fight and uncover the true depths of this War. Behold the Razgriz, it's wings of black sheath...  AC 4 and 5 crossover later on. BlazexEdge
1. Chapter 1

I know many of you are awaiting my next update to my HP stories. Sadly, that muse had dissappeared for the moment. Unfortunatly, those stoires are on hiatus until further notice as my muse has steered me toward Ace Combat stories. I intend for this to be a bit AU and such with more realistic weapon load outs. If you can name a plane that has unlimited machine gun ammo and a missile load of 60+ missiles, let me know. I honestly don't know of one. Anyway, on with the story! (Note: The main characters name is not based off the SGA character, nor is it a reference to Mass Effect.)

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><p>Under The Phantom's Black Wings<p>

The sky was pure blue with hardly a cloud in sight. Winds were light and visibility was unrestricted for as far as the eye could see. But these thoughts weren't on the pilot's mind as he brought his plane in on final approach. It had been a long flight from the mainland out to this little speck of dirt in the middle of the ocean. To him, it was just another Air Force base he was going to for follow on training. To others, it was a career ender. You were pretty much screwed if you were assigned to this base on permanent personnel rosters. He gave a sigh and began his final approach. With in ten minutes, his plane was taxing off the tarmac and toward it's new home for the time being. Final shut downs complete, he opened his canopy and climbed down to the deck and turned, coming face to face with a rather disgruntled looking captain. The two simply stared at one another for a moment before the Captain spoke.

"Let me guess. You're the new guy from Heirelark, right? The real hot shot with a hot head?"

The man frowned slightly, but stood tall. Even if this guy was a Captain, he wasn't going to let the man's words effect him. The Capatin seemed to sense this and smirked slightly.

"Man of few words, huh? Good. Because I've already got a motor mouth here. I'd rather not have a second one. Captain Jack Bartlett. Wardog leader."

Upon hearing his name and position, the pilot came to attention and snapped off a crisp salute.

"First Lieutenant John Sheppard."

Bartlett nodded briefly.

"At ease Lieutenant. We've got other things to do today besides gawk at each other." With that, Bartlett turned and headed toward a simple two story building with John in tow.

They walked in silence, not that John had much to say, and entered the rather dingy building. Bartlett lead the new join to the S-1. A single Senior Airman glanced up before tapping a few commands into her computer.

"I've got a new guy here. Lieutenant Sheppard. Make sure he get's his check in sheet." He told the Airman before turning back to John. "Once you're done here, report to the pilots lounge. I got word to pass to everyone, including you mister hotshot. Be there at 1615." Bartlett told him as he walked away.

"Blaze."

Bartlett paused and looked back at him with curiosity.

"You say something hotshot?"

John looked up at him, his face calm.

"Blaze. My call sign is 'Blaze', not 'Hotshot'…sir."

Most OICs would freak out on a new guy for the ballsy move he just pulled, but Bartlett simply smirked.

"Good. So you do still have a backbone. Alright Kid. Make sure you're at the briefing room on time."

With out waiting for a response, Bartlett walked out leaving a slightly confused John and an uninterested Airman.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

1600 rolled around and Blaze found himself in the pilots lounge as the rest of the squadron filed in. He felt exhausted from running around the base all day. From going to medical to going to the CBQ for his room assignment, he had a pretty dull check in. Not to mention the little heart to heart that the base commander decided to give him.

"_Prick. Guy couldn't command himself out of a wet paper bag."_ He thought rather heatedly.

He'd been told that his tendency to blow off orders would not be tolerated and if he even set one toe out of line, he'd find his ass on the curb. And he had the gull to bring up the training accident that had caused the death of his wingman.. Hell, had it not happened, he'd be a Captain by now. But he pushed those thoughts aside as two particular trainees came over to him and sat beside him. One of them, an older man with rather out of regulations sideburns eyed him with curiosity while the woman, slightly younger than John by the looks, glanced at him in idly curiosity. The man was the first to speak.

"Who are you?" He asked.

John glanced at him, his face still calm.

"It's polite to introduce yourself first."

The man blinked before shrugging.

"Second Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport. You can call me Chopper." He held his hand out and John grasped it briefly.

"In that case, I'm First Lieutenant John Sheppard. Call sign Blaze." John smirked at the man. "You must be the motor mouth I've heard so much about."

Chopper gave an exaggerated sigh before he responded while the woman smirked at the man's antics.

"I swear. I'll get the captain back one day, you'll see."

"How? By yapping my ear off?"

All eyes snapped to the form of Captain Bartlett. The man entered the room and sat down in front of them, eyeing all of them seriously.

"Alright. Most of you are aware of what happened yesterday. For those that don't, we got bounced by a group of fighters who were operating for powers unknown at the moment. We lost several good people yesterday." He sighed. "So here's where we stand. I know you don't like this, but we're short on people. Starting tomorrow, all of you nuggets are going to be sitting on alert. If we launch, stay glued to me up there." He scanned the room, noticing several fearful looks and others calm faces.

His eyes locked onto one particular pilot.

"Nagase."

The woman next to John sat a little straighter in her chair.

"Sir."

"You're flying number two on my wing." He smirked lightly. "Gotta keep an eye on you or who knows what you'll get yourself into."

Nagase seemed slightly irritated by the Captain's words but nodded her head in understanding as Captain Bartlett turned to him next.

"You'll be flying trail as Wardog Four, kid. Despite what rumors have gotten to me, you've got combat experience and from what I'm told, you're a hell of a pilot. I'll need you to keep our six clear. Got it?"

"Understood, sir. I'll have your back up there."

Bartlett nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Now, motor mouth, as much as I don't want to listen to your yap in combat, you're a decent pilot as well. You're flying as Wardog Three." His gaze hardened slightly. "Don't make me regret this."

Chopper seemed slightly put out, but responded in kind to the Captain. Bartlett looked back around the room, seeing all the faces, noting that some were pretty young.

"Whatever happens out there, no matter the situation, rely on your training and instincts. I have faith in your skills as pilots, otherwise, you wouldn't be here in this room right now." He paused and leaned back in his chair. "All of you should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Dismissed."

Almost as one, they rose to their feet and left, with John hanging back. Bartlett spotted him after the room had mostly cleared out.

"Can I do something for you Kid?"

"Yes sir. Actually, I was hoping to speak with you about my record." He informed the Captain.

Bartlett sighed again and knew where this was going.

"Look kid. I know what happened. I know you were not at fault for your wingman's death. And the Air Force agrees as well. The only reason you're here, was because I requested it." he explained to him.

John blinked in confusion.

"Sir?"

"You know that the 108th is a reserve squadron. A remnant from World War Two. We have a low priority compared to other bases such as Edwards and Wright Patterson. But the fact is, we still have a quota to maintain out here. And I'd rather have you than some other officer out there who can barely keep their plane in the air. Fact is, you're good at what you do, but you still have a lot to learn." He looked John right in the eye. "That, and I have a debt to repay to your father."

John nodded and walked out of the room, feeling slightly defeated. He'd avoided telling people about his father, mostly to avoid special treatment. But, it wouldn't be so bad here. An out of the way base that he could begin to make a name for himself, earn his own reputation, whether good or bad, and to just be him. He was completely zoned out and almost walked right into Nagase and Chopper, both looking at him with curiosity. John knew what they wanted.

"I know what you're going to ask. And I will answer you questions, but not now. I will see you both tomorrow morning."

Nagase and Chopper gave him a brief salute and watched as he walked away, Chopper shaking his head, while Kei simply watched him with curiosity.

"Man…that guy is too much like the Captain." Chopper moaned.

"No." Kei spoke. "There's something very different with him."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John leaned back in his chair, thinking back to that day when he'd lost his wingman. It had been a simple training flight, a simulated dogfight. They had scrambled to five thousand and had immediately been set upon by three instructors. Blaze could remember exactly what had happened…

_(Flashback)_

"_Tally ho! Three bandits coming in fast at three o'clock high."_

_Blaze looked in the direction and saw three F-5 Tigers hurtling toward him and his wingman._

"_Alright Twilight. Let's turn and burn!" He spoke as he flipped his plane right, pulling back on the stick as he ignited the afterburners._

_He could feel the gee forces press him into his crash chair as he pulled his plane in a tight turn in an attempt to get behind their attackers._

"_Their latched onto my six!" His wingman called out._

"_Hang on. I'll be right there."_

_Blaze inverted his plane and spotted Twilight with two fighters at the trail position, trying to get a lock. He knew the training computer would be tracking several dozen simulated machine gun rounds flying from the pursuers. Blaze glanced at his own radar and saw number three trying to get behind him._

"I don't think so."_ He thought and yanked his stick back into his stomach, forcing his plane to fly right toward the ground at speeds in excess of five hundred miles and hour._

_He angled himself for a lead on the instructors planes and pulled the trigger, sending simulated lead right where the lead pursuers would be. Sure enough, he landed enough simulated damage on the plane for the smoke canister to ignite in the tail section. The Instructor peeled off, fuming for having been bounced from above. A quick look showed the second one had peeled off and was attempting to come back around to get Twilight while the third one seemed to have a permanent attachment to him. Blaze pushed his bird to the max, pulling up with scant feet to spare. He quickly banked and spotted the second plane. He shoved the throttle as far forward as it could go, coaxing every ounce of speed he could. He wouldn't make it in time relying on guns, so he flipped his master arm switch, activating the simulated missiles he was carrying. They detach from the fighter and fly after a target, and pop open near enough to the target and release a red cloud of smoke, designating as a hit on the targeted plane. He weaved slightly to avoid the instructor behind him from getting any kind of weapons lock and waited for that slight tone, which he got a half second later._

"_I've got tone! Blaze, fox two!"_

_The training missile knifed forward, following the targeted plane which was trying to vain to shake the weapon off. Blaze really didn't care if it hit. All he wanted was for Twilight's six to be clear. And not a second after thinking that, he heard their AWACS signal that the instructor on his tail was down thanks to Twilight._

"_That's one for each of us. Now lets get this last one, right Blaze?"_

"_Affirmative. He'll be gunning for me, so I'll be the bait. Stay high and try to come out of the sun." he ordered._

"_Roger that."_

_He watched the other F-5 shoot up into a near by cloud bank and out of sight._

"_Alright kid. No more playing around with you. You and your little buddy are going down."_

"_If you say so, sir. But you have to admit, the odds are in our favor." He teased back over the comm._

_Whatever response he got back was blocked out by the scream of a missile warning. Blaze slammed the throttle forward, hitting his after burners as he cycled through his flares and chaff, trying to shake the simulated missile with simulated countermeasures. But a glance at his systems made his gut tighten up._

"_Slammer! We've got a live missile! Repeat, I have a live missile closing on my six! Attempting to evade!"_

"_Shit! I'm sorry kid! This thing was checked out as cold this morning!" His instructor called back as he tried to self destruct the missile. "Damn it! The self destruct isn't arming! Bail out kid!"_

"_Negative. I can shake it."_

_John slammed his throttle into the firewall, his engines screaming in protest as his F-5 knifed through the sky. John glanced at his radar, seeing the sidewinder closing rapidly._

"_Just a bit more." He muttered._

_Using every ounce of his skill, John yanked the throttle back wile deploying the airbrake and whipping his plan up and barrel rolled to the left. He gave a short fist pump as as the missile soared right under him. But his world shattered in an instant when he saw the missile smash into Twilight's plane. Her screams reverberated in his ears as her plane began to drop out of the sky, spewing smoke._

"_Twilight! Bail out!" He screamed into his com._

"_I can't! Electrical systems are fired! Some one help!" She screamed._

_Blaze watched the plane hurtle into the side of a mountain, screaming out in pain and anguish…_

_(End Flashback)_

John sighed sadly. Despite the fact that he had been cleared of negligence, he still blamed himself for the death of his wingman. But all that was cleared from his mind as the PA crackled to life.

"_Wardog squadron. Report to the briefing room immediately. I say again, Captain Bartlett, First Lieutenant Sheppard, Second Lieutenants Nagase and Davenport, please report to the briefing room." _

John sighed and hurried to the briefing room as fast as he could. Something told him this wasn't going to be just another drill.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John eased his plane into formation, taking the trail position behind the rest of the squad. Looking around him, he felt himself relax as the sky seemed open to him, with possibilities endlessly lying before him…until his radio beeped angrily at him. John shook his head as Captain Bartlett's voice came over the channel, irritation clear in his voice.

"_Wardog Four! Hello? You'd better be marking our tail, son."_

Refraining from saying something stupid over the radio, John moved his mic close enough to pick up his voice.

"Wardog Four, roger. I'm not going anywhere sir."

Either Bartlett didn't care about his response, or he didn't catch the hint of irritation, John didn't know.

"_Glad to see you're confident at least. Right." _He paused slightly before issuing his orders. _"You're not to fire until I give the go ahead, you got that?"_

"Roger Heartbreak One."

John idly glanced over his display, noting his full combat load of four AIM-9 Sidewinders, two AGM-65 Mavericks, and 280 rounds for his two nose mounted 20 mm M39A2 Revolver cannons. If this was the standard load used to frighten a spy plane down, he'd hate to see what they pack the planes with should hostiles show up at their doorstep. Though why he would need bombs, he had no idea. Whatever other musings he had were cut short as he spotted the SR-71 in question fly by them at a reasonable speed for the wounded bird. John didn't even hear the call out from Captain Bartlett as he fastened his mask and was already banking his plane in a sharp turn to get on the fleeing plane's six. John increased his thrust enough to come up beside the plane. On his radio, he could hear Chopper issue the demand for the plane to land. Almost comically, the pilot of the Blackbird looked over at him. In universal fashion, John pointed down in an exaggerated way so the other pilot could see him. The one fingered salute was well understood by Blaze.

"Wardog Four to Thunderhead. I just got a universal screw off sign from the Blackbird. Request permission to bring him down the hard way, over."

The almost screamed 'No' just made Blaze grumble his own response as Bartlett came back over the radio.

"_Easy Kid. I'd love nothing more than to splash this guy, but we can't do anything unless we take fire."_

"Yeah, I understand sir. Just wish we didn't have to play the nice, gracious host to our mystery invader, that's all."

Before Bartlett could respond, the AWACS came on with a warning of multiple high speed bogeys headed towards them. John figured they were coming in to help the Blackbird and Bartlett seemed to agree with him as they altered heading to due south, all of them feeding more thrust to their engines.

"Think we can scare them off with our overwhelmingly intimidating F-5s sir?" Blaze asked sarcastically as he leveled out in the trail position.

"_Maybe we can just have Motor mouth talk them to death."_

Blaze chuckled as they came with in something akin to visual range. His levity was quickly squashed as he barrel rolled out of the way of the stream of hot lead flying right at him. John whipped his plan around and latched himself behind the MiG, not letting the superior plane dance out of his weapons for more than half a second. Later, Blaze wouldn't remember what words were spoken between his flight lead and Chopper, except for the order to bring these bastards down. John had already flipped the master arm switch, removing the safety interlocks from his weapons. Slipping into a higher position, he strafed the MiG-21 across his engines, left to right. It was enough for smoke to spew from the aircraft and the engines to flame out. A split second after the flame out, Blaze jinxed right to avoid the canopy and saw the enemy pilot punch out.

"Bogey down."

John immediately moved on, already screaming in behind his next target. This one had a bit more sense and used his plane's superior speed and maneuverability to it's max. John gritted his teeth and attempted to angle himself in behind the plane for a perfect shot. His aim was off, though. Instead of hitting his tail, the 20mm round ripped through the wing, sending the bird spiraling toward the waters below them.

"Splash one." John called out as Edge and Bartlett managed to snag the other two.

His short victory was rudely interrupted by Thunderhead informing them they had one more flight of unknowns inbounds. John turned himself along the proper vector and pushed more fuel to his engines, glancing at his fuel readout, noting his had more than enough fuel at the moment to deal with a few angry hostiles. His targeting computer selected the closest fighter, an unlucky MiG-21 that was screaming towards him at high speeds. Not even two seconds later, his AIM-9 got a lock.

"I got tone! Blaze, fox two!" he called out as he let loose the sidewinder.

The AIM-9M was a decent missile to have onboard, as it had improved infrared countermeasures, enhanced background discrimination capability, and a reduced-smoke rocket motor. This increased it's lock-on to a target and a decrease in deflection chances. All this meant was a meaner, deadlier missile. And was it effective. The 20 pound WDU-17/B Annular Blast Fragmentation warhead blew most of the forward portion of the MiG-21 away, leaving the flaming wreckage to spiral out of control into the waves below.

"Target destroyed."

Blaze looped around, searching for another target, but saw that all remaining aircraft had been shot down, with AWACS Thunderhead confirming what he had already known. But what day was complete without a flash report from Thunderhead telling them that this engagement was now classified and Captain Bartlett was to report to the Colonel immediately after landing. Blaze sighed and decided that this was one day he'd just like to forget as he and the rest of Wardog made their way back to base, not knowing that they we're on a collision course with War, or the role that they would play in it.


	2. Chapter 2

The next chapter of my Ace Combat story. I'm attempting to add a new twist to the same old formula. Anyway. I hope you enjoy this story, and I will be doing my best to make this story worthwile. Also, Ace Combat Assualt Horizon...not what I was expecting, but not a bad game. Well, hope you enjoy.

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><p>The Dogs of War<p>

Blaze eased himself into an open chair in the rec room, idly watching the game show on the television. He sighed and relaxed as the sun sunk below the horizon. He'd just finished being interrogated by the base commander for over an hour, going into detail of what exactly had happened. The Colonel reluctantly admitted they were clear of any charges as they had been fired upon first by the unknown craft. But they had been warned that such action next time without clearance would have them grounded and charged under article 134 of the UCMJ. He hated that catch all article because all it required to stick was a trumped up charge and some jackass to sign it. He was so engrossed in his little world that he didn't even notice Nagase entering the room and almost making a bee line for him.

"Sir."

"At ease Nagase. We're off duty. You can call me John at times like these." He told her, smiling tiredly.

She returned his smile, though her's was more nervous that tired.

"Thank you sir. I mean John. You can call me Kei when off duty as well."

He gestured for her to sit.

"Alright. What's on your mind?" He asked as she sat down.

She looked uneasy at first before she spoke.

"The base commander brought up your wingman. I was…I was wondering what happened?" She asked him hesitantly.

John sighed.

"I knew this would come up eventually. Let's go somewhere more suitable for private conversations." He told her as he rose to his feet.'

Kei quickly rose and followed him out. The pair walked in silence for several minutes before John opened the door to his quarters and let her in. After sitting down on the chairs in the room, John let out another sigh.

"My wingman was killed when I failed to follow orders. Pretty much, a training accident in which a lazy loadmaster failed to check all the missiles on the planes. Due to his negligence, a live missile was loaded in with the rest of the training load. Had I simply punched out and not evaded the missile, it wouldn't have taken out my wingman."

Kei felt shock course through her at the end of his explanation, unable to speak as he sighed.

"And the worst part is, she was the last family I had left." His sorrow still plain in his voice.

"Who…who was she? A cousin?"

"My twin sister." He told her as his eyes fell to the deck.

"Oh God."

John rubbed the back of his neck and looked back up at her. Apparently, she misread his gaze and her expression was one of apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. I'll…I'll just go sir." She began to rise, but stopped when John grabbed her gently by the wrist.

She looked over and saw his small smile.

"Hey. It's not a bad thing to want to know your squadron mates better. Besides, I've got more answers for questions if you've got them."

She nodded and sat slowly back down, feeling the goose bumps from his touch fade. She had no idea what could evoke such a response, but she was still curious.

"Actually, just a few. For one, why are you're flying as four when you should be flying as three."

John sighed yet again before he responded.

"Simple. The two times I was in any leadership position, people died. I specifically requested to be placed in a position that would prevent my actions or inactions from getting pilots killed." He explained.

"One more question sir. Who was your father?" She asked.

John looked up at her, smiling lightly.

"Cameron Sheppard."

Edge felt like she should know that name, but she couldn't figure it out. She checked her watch before she excused herself.

"I guess I should be going. You have a good night, sir." Kei rose to her feet and nodded toward him.

John smiled again as he waved her off.

"You too, Nagase. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kei left and John sat in silence for several seconds before he heard the TV kick on in the rec room, cursing softly.

"Damn it. Now I've got to wait until Davenport gets done watching his damned music program." He grumbled as he lay back on his rack.

The other alternative was to listen to his verbose wingman's speech on why each band was good or why each sucked. John would have rather been falcon punched in the balls than go through that again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John was fuming as he walked to his plane. Bartlett had told him point blank that he was moving to Wardog Three until he was told otherwise, as Davenport was by default, the worst of the three nuggets. John thought he wasn't that bad. He'd maintained his head during a battle and had managed to assist in downing one of the planes. But John simply had to suck up whatever issues he might have about it and do what he was told. He stopped by his plane and looked it over. He wished he still had his F-4 from Heirelark, but he'd been sent out with the replacement F-5E for Wardog. So now it was his. He didn't hate the plane, but it limited his combat abilities. He almost smiled as his father's voice rang in his ears.

"The plane doesn't make the pilot, Kid. The pilot makes the plane."

John sighed and nodded to himself as Bartlett walked around, doing his own checks of the planes.

"You alright Kid?" he asked.

John nodded and looked out to the blue sky.

"Yeah. Just…remembering things."

Bartlett smiled slightly as he looked out toward the sky as well.

"Yeah. I know what you mean."

Both simply looked out over the ocean for several minutes before Bartlett reminded him they still had a job to do and headed off to his own plane as John climbed into his.

-x-x-x-x-x-

John checked his radar once more as he approached the final drones. It had been a pretty simple mission so far. Destroy drones; don't shoot the floating target that they were attempting to get to. A quick check of his ammo counter showed roughly 250 rounds of machine gun ammo. Full sidewinders and two AIM-120 AMRAAMS, which he thought fit better than the two mavericks he was touting around the other day. John pulled the trigger briefly, sending a short burst of lead into the nearest drone. John flashed past, watching it as it fell to the waves below.

"This one's all yours Edge." He called over the radio.

Not even a split second later, the final drone went down from Edge's guns.

"Nice shot." John commented as he shot over the boat at high speeds.

He could almost sense their fear as he soared toward the sky.

_"Alright my misguided children. Time to pack it in."_

The Captain's voice crackled over his radio.

John gave a low buzz of the ship, letting them see they were still armed with missiles and gained altitude quickly, leveling out behind Heartbreak One at 6,000 feet. Edge leveled out at his ten as Thunderhead's voice came in over the radio.

_"Warning. Multiple bogeys closing fast."_

_"Same attack axis as before?"_

_"280. Same vector as last time."_

Thunderhead confirmed.

_"Geez. How many planes have they got lined up at the border?" _He complained. _"We've only got four on our side." _They waited briefly as Bartlett contemplated his options. _"We'd better abort. This way."_

John and Kei fell in behind Bartlett and they began heading back to base at seventy percent power. John glanced at his radar and saw the contacts closing quickly, but they'd be in range of Sand Islands defense network soon enough.

_"Think you can stick to my tail Kid?"_

"Only if you quite calling me Kid, sir."

_"Ah, a comedian, eh? We'll see how much you're joking when I whoop you in a round or two of hoops again."_

"That was a fluke and you know it sir." John retorted.

He was still sore at being thoroughly demolished. 22 to 72. Horrible. John was saved from Bartlett's further comments by Chopper's voice cutting over the radio.

_"I can't make it. They're running me down!"_

_"Taking the trail position today Rockin Roller? Hold on. I'll clear your six."_

John figured that Bartlett was just going to buzz them long enough for Chopper to get away. John peeled off and decided to fly beside Chopper for some form of support. But that went out the window when his missile warning starting going off. Blaze shoved the stick forward, diving briefly before pulling back up.

"Holy shit." He cursed as the enemy planes greeted them with tracers and a few sidewinders thrown in for good measure.

_"Everyone else, quite gawking and start shooting!"_

Bartlett ordered as he engaged one of the MiGs.

John snapped his nose up and caught sight of one of them heading for Chopper. Twisting his plane and leveling out put him in the perfect position to splash the MiG just as Thunderhead came over the radio.

_"Captain Bartlett! You are not cleared to engage at this time!"_

_"This guy's an idiot." _John thought as he let loose his nose cannons. The MiG began spewing smoke from its damaged engines, but wouldn't give up the chase as it sent a stream of lead at Chopper.

"Sweet lock! Blaze, fox two!" John called out as his AIM-9 shot forward from his wingtips and smashed into the tail of the MiG.

The MiG pilot didn't bail out as Blaze shot over the flaming remains of the jet.

_"You splashed an enemy without permission? What are you thing Wardog?"_

Thunderhead demanded.

"That I don't wanna die! Now stay off the radio until you have something useful to say!" Blaze shot back as he began chasing down his next target.

_"Bogey on the Captain's six. Turning to engage."_

_"Damn Kid! Come help me out here!"_

Chopper called.

_"Kid. Go clear Four's six."_

"Roger." He replied as his next target was downed by a burst from his guns.

John brought his plane back around and spotted Chopper evading the enemy pilot pretty well. By the time John reached effective range, Chopper managed to come around and splash his target.

"Seems you didn't need my help after all." John commented as he and Chopper moved into formation with the rest of their squadron.

_"Good job Nuggets. Looks like you all do have what it takes to be pilots. And Wardog Four. Not bad Rockin Roller. Not bad at all."_

_"Thank you sir."_

Chopper responded, sounding relieved now that the engagement was over.

_"Picture clear. All hostile aircraft are destroyed. Warning is still in effect. Keep your heads on a swivel."_

"Heartbreak One, something is tracking me. I've got a warning tone." Blaze reported.

Not even two seconds later, John saw the launch of a SAM from the ship that made a beeline for Edge. He could hear her swear softly as she tried to evade the missile. The missile seemed stubborn as it didn't go after her countermeasures and continued to soar right at her. John knew what needed to be done and slammed his throttle forward, intending to give the missile something else to chase. But Bartlett beat him to it and dived in right in front of the missile at full afterburners, successfully removing the missile from Kei. John watched in morbid fascination as the missile closed and detonated right next to his wing. Bartlett began trailing smoke from his engine that caught the shrapnel from the missile and he began losing altitude.

_"Captain!"_

_"Hey. Save the waterworks. I'm just goinna bail out here. These things are replacable. Getting the crew back alive is what counts."_ He paused before giving his last few orders prior to punching out. _"Make the call to scramble the search and rescue chopper and ready my reserve plane, alright?"_

"Sending the call now, sir." Blaze informed him just before he sent the request out.

_"Good job. I'll see you guys around."_

Blaze watched the canopy blast off, followed by the Captain flying out the jet. John banked around as Bartlett drifted into the ocean below. Before John could do more than one pass, Thunderhead came back over the radio, sounding frantic, and this worried John.

_"Warning! Warning! Wardog Squadron, return to base immediately!"_

_"But the rescue helicopter isn't here yet."_

_"Leave that to the rescue team. Refuel and rearm at base and get back in the air immediately."_

"Blaze to Thunderhead. What's wrong?" John asked.

_"The enemy has declared war on us."_


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long delay in update. Been busy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was pretty fun to write and hopefully, it will shed some more light on Blaze's back story. Enjoy and remember, I thrive on reveiws!

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><p>The Flaming Sea<p>

John eased himself into formation behind Nagase. Their brief had been brief as well, no pun intended. Just a simple overview. Fly to St Hewlett and buy the 3rd Osean Fleet enough time to get out to open waters. From what little information he could gleam from the brief, the carrier fighters were being given a run for their money. John locked his gaze forward as Thunderhead came over the radio, catching the last information that was being sent to them.

"_Edge, you lead the formation." _Thunderhead ordered.

It was natural as she was number two in the flight and this suited John just fine. But he was rudely ripped from his displays at her response.

"_No. Blaze will lead the formation. And I'm not going to lose another flight lead this time."_

"_Second Lieutenant Nagase! Follow your orders!" _Thunderhead barked into the channel.

John used this moment to speak with her.

"Edge. Please. Do as he says. I can't do this." He practically pleaded.

"_I trust you Blaze. You're better than any of us. Unless you want Chopper leading."_

"_I'd better stick to the trail position, thanks."_ The normally energetic pilot told them rather grimly.

John was about to argue back before a male voice, booming with authority came over the channel.

"_Quite screwing around. This is war. The enemy is all over and their going to eat you alive!"_

John watched the F-14D Tomcat hurtle past, looking for more targets. John, almost reluctantly moved into the lead position, taking in all information available to him.

"This is Blaze. Thunderhead, give me a sitrep on the enemy dispositions and all friendly status updates." Blaze requested as he throttled forward.

"_The situation is grim. Enemy aircraft are all over. Friendly aircraft are tied up and unable to disengage long enough to rearm or refuel."_

"Roger. We'll ensure air superiority. Edge, Chopper. We've got pilots who need a hand. What'd you say we go help them out?"

"_Edge here. I'm right with you Blaze."_

"_Wardog Three here. I'm ready when you are Kid."_

John refastened his mask and lowered his tinted helmet visor and gripped the stick tightly.

"Wardog. Let's plow the road!"

As if to add a point to his statement, John mashed the trigger for his twin nose cannons, shortly followed by Edge and Chopper, sending a wall of hot steal at the nearest aircraft. The first enemy fighter erupted into a ball of flames that fell toward the water as a second plane sustained too much damage for it to stay airborne. The pilot bailed out as Wardog shot right into the furball over the bay. The assorted enemy aircraft seemed to realize the three tigers that had leapt into the fray posed a greater threat than the exhausted Tomcats, and shifted their attacks onto the three aircraft that dared oppose them. John cursed bitterly as he whipped his plane around in a high gee turn to shake his pursuer lose from his tail. He knew they wouldn't be able to do much in this fight with out some help from the Tomcats that were trying quickly to land and rearm themselves. He inverted himself as Chopper shot under him, taking out his pursuer with a shot burst of gunfire directly to the cockpit. This wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter. John didn't know how much time had passed before the Kestrel, the Big K herself, pushed out of the bay. He was just starting to relax slightly when he heard Kei's voice.

"_Oh my god…the bay…"_'

John looked down and regretted it instantly as he watched a wounded MiG smash into the waves, sending burning fuel and debris onto the poor souls in the waves. His stomach threatened to empty itself, but he managed to force the feeling down and concentrate on keeping the Kestrel safe and afloat.

"_Kid…did you see that? All those bodies…"_

"I wish I hadn't Chopper. But we can't think about that right now. We've got Nimrods and escorts inbound along with a blockade to deal with. Come on Wardog. We've got a job to finish." He ordered.

John checked his load out. He still had his missiles left, but he only had a quarter of his machine gun rounds left. Fuel was low as well, but he hoped enough to finish their job. He sighted on the nearest bomber and moved in, sending a greeting to the large aircraft in the form of a sidewinder to it's spine. The bomber split in half, spewing smoke and multiple liquids from it's busted and severed lines. They moved on, systematically taking out the air threats with assistance of the Tomcats from VFA-103. Now, it was time to deal with the warships in their path. John ordered Edge and Chopper to hold back as he came in low and fast, antiaircraft fir ripping past his plane. He hoped his aim was true.

"Blaze; Fox two!" he called as he let the sidewinder fly.

With scant meters to spare, he yanked his stick back, barely missing the side of the destroyer as his missile struck it's mark. John came back around and saw the enemy ship listing heavily to port. Additional explosions seemed to be coming from inside her as she slowly rolled over.

"Christ. I must have hit the main magazine." He muttered as the ship seemed to tear itself apart.

He checked his display and growled in frustration.

"This is Blaze. Thunderhead, I'm Winchester. I say again, I'm empty."

"_Roger Blaze. The 103 have finished off most of the surface combatants. You are cleared to return to St Hewlett and refuel and rearm before returning to Sand Island."_

Blaze and the rest of the squadron formed up, heading back to the damaged, but operational airfield at NAS St Hewlett. John frowned as his controls seemed sluggish. At least until it started to get harder and harder to stay in the air. Blaze gripped his controls tightly, as his engines began to lose power.

"This is Wardog One. I am declaring an emergency. Request arrested landing, over."

"_Roger Wardog One. Arresting gear is ready."_

"Understood."

Blaze fought with his controls, increasing power to almost double the max for landing. His control panel began beeping angrily at him, red lights snapping on across the board. He could feel his controls becoming more and more unresponsive by the second and hoped he'd be able to land the plane. He was partly able to land it. Just before he reached the runway, his engines flamed out and he had a complete loss of power. His controls were now responsive and he ejection system wouldn't engage. He just had to hope his plane didn't become his coffin. His F-5 hit the deck and it hit hard. He felt his head slam against his display and all went dark.

-x-x-x-x-x-

John looked around in confusion, unsure as to how he got to his situation. All he knew was that the large object flying in front of him needed to be destroyed. He looked at his weapons display and cursed softly as he saw he was out of ammo.

"This is Blaze. I'm out of ammo. Thunderhead, I need a solution." He looked back down at his displays and noticed he was half load of fuel. Inspiration struck. "Thunderhead, I got a question. Where would a fighter need to impact on this thing to destroy it?"

Blaze could feel the stunned silence over the radio before Thunderhead came back.

"_What? What are you planning Blaze?"_

"Just get me that information." He barked into his radio.

The silence over the com was heavy as John waited for the response. But the silence lasted only moments before Thunderhead responded.

"_I have the data for you Blaze. Please don't do this. Tomahawks are prepared and ready."_

"No time. Send me the target point."

Kei's voice came in, fear and hurt in her voice.

"_Blaze, no. Don't do this." _She pleaded.

"We've got no other option Edge. The Tomahawks won't reach the target in time."

"_John. Please. I…I need you."_

"Don't worry Kei. I'll punch out before impact. This is Blaze. Razgriz, clear the area. This is going to be one hell of an explosion." He ordered as he lined himself for his run.

"_Roger that sir. Good luck."_

"_We'll be waiting for your retrieval sir."_

John noticed that Kei didn't respond, but he could hear her muffled sobs. She must have removed her mask and angled the microphone away from her face. John lined up and throttled his fighter forward at max thrust. He closed his eyes just before he yanked his ejection handle…

-x-x-x-x-x-

John woke abruptly, looking at the white walls. He blinked rapidly as objects came into view. Sadly enough, that object happened to be Chopper. John had to restrain himself from swinging on his wingman as the older man backed away slightly, still grinning.

"Ah. You up. Good. How you feeling?" Chopper asked him.

John popped his neck slightly before he answered.

"Alright I guess. What happened? Last thing I remember is landing."

Chopper chuckled.

"More like crashed with style." His expression changed to a more serious one. "We thought we lost you there for a minute. Nagase was in a right state when they pulled you from the cockpit. Mechs were surprised you even managed to get back to the base with the damage you had."

John rubbed his eyes and leaned back.

"What about my plane?" he asked.

"Totaled. Command is sending a replacement, but it won't be here until tomorrow afternoon. They couldn't get a new Tiger out here so they're sending an F-16. Seems they plan to swap out our squad's fighters for more up to date planes." Chopper explained.

John relaxed and nodded.

"Hey. John. Why haven't you made a move on Kei yet?" Chopper, still serious, asked.

"Because the last time I let my heart lead me, the girl simply used me to get what she wanted. Eight years of being her friend, and helping her any and everyway I could, and she pretty much crushed me within the span of six hours. I vowed to never trust anyone like that again." He explained as he looked out the window.

Chopper placed a hand on John's shoulder.

"I know how you feel, man. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call the wife."

John watched in mild surprise as Chopper hightailed it out of there just as Kei walked in. Chopper sent her a wink and continued on his way, leaving a rather confused Kei. John smiled at her lightly and gestured for her to take a seat, which she did, returning his smile.

"Why did Chopper wink at me?" She asked him.

He simply shrugged.

"Who knows? It is Chopper we're talking about here. So how are you doing?"

Kei snorted.

"You're the one who crashes on landing, ends up in the infirmary, and you ask me how I'm doing?"

John grinned.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't that bad."

She shook her head and sighed.

"You are crazy. Do you know that?"

John scratched his chin in thought, making a mental note to shave the first chance he got.

"It might have been brought up on occasion." He admitted as much to Kei's amusement.

She simply shook her head and took the empty chair beside his bed.

"Well, Hamilton called awhile ago. We have orders to return to Sand Island as soon as we are able to. He also sent his best wishes for your speedy recovery."

Blaze nodded and leaned back, thinking that tomorrow would be a fun day for him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Wardog returned to Sand Island the next night, having departed from St. Hewlett earlier that afternoon and it had been an uneventful flight for them, thankfully. Upon landing, Chopper headed straight to his room for a chance to relax while Kei and John made their way to the base commanders office. The resulting meeting, if that is what it could be called, didn't end as fast as John would have liked. During the meeting, the Colonel decided to lay into Kei about refusing to follow orders and such, and said that the only reason he wasn't drumming her out on her ass was because she was a somewhat decent pilot and Osea needed anyone and everyone they could get their hands on for the war. John seethed silently as this was going on, wanting so bad to shut the fat old fart up, but felt shock at what occurred next.

"And before you leave," the Colonel continued, "Lieutenant Colonel Ford is on his way here to take command of your squadron. I expect you and your wingmen to not show your asses as you have been so fond of doing. Now get out of my office."

John walked numbly out of the office as he felt anger well up inside of him at the thought of Ford. Kei must have noticed this and gave him a curious look.

"I'll explain later. I need to make a phone call. I'll see you later, alright?"

Kei nodded but John hadn't waited and made a beeline for the nearest phone room and plopped down. After a moment a silence, the operator picked up.

"_How may I help you sir?"_

"I need to make a call to Usea." John replied.

"_What listing sir?"_

"ISAF Headquarters."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I wouldn't worry about whose going to lead the flight tomorrow. His highness from the mainland will just come down and take over. End of story." Chopper explained to Genette, as the reporter leaned back in the chair provided as Alvin seemed to relax to the music.

"Who's that?"

Chopper didn't even look at the man as he responded.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ford. He's a real hard ass and a complete ass hole. He flies a desk and tries to run everything by the book. If regulations don't work, he slams his rank down on you until you do what he wants. Real bitch if you ask me."

The reporter had just opened his mouth to speak when siren started blaring across the base. Chopper groaned before getting on his feet and grabbing his helmet.

"An air raid? Damn it man. I just sat down." He grumbled as he hurried to his plane.

Outside in the hall, he came across Kei and both rushed to the hangers. Chopper only realized that all Kei had on were a pair of shorts and a white tank top, but knew it wasn't a big deal anyway as he scrambled up the stairs and dropped into his cockpit. He began his abbreviated checklist and glanced over at the hanger and saw John hauling ass to his own F-16 as the first of the enemy fighters began tangling with the base defenders. All three Wardog pilots began firing up their engines, or at least trying to. Chopper was having turbine troubles, but that was short lived a his jet roared to life. In John's plane, the de facto leader of Wardog had just finished powering his own Falcon to life as a wounded F-5 smashed into the deck not more than a few hundred yards from him. He could feel the force of the impact and see smoldering debris bounce off his canopy as Wardog began rolling to the runway for an emergency scramble. He had a fleeting flashback to his training but pushed it aside as he got his clearance to launch and slammed his throttle into the firewall. John felt the Falcon shoot forward, it single F110-GE-100 engine spewing out 28,600 pounds of thrust as the sleek aircraft accelerated to over two hundred miles an hour, more than enough to gain flight, as the Falcon angled up at sixty degrees until Blaze almost collided with an enemy MiG that had flashed by in an attempt to bounce him from above. Blaze pulled a high gee turn, feeling his body being forced into the crash seat as he latched into the back of the enemy aircraft. He knew he wouldn't need to tell the other two to hunt down their own targets as it was pretty much the only thing they could do. Blaze let loose with his M61 Vulcan Six Barreled Gatling cannon, capable of firing 6,600 20 by 102 mm rounds per minute into the aft end of the target. The rounds slammed into the tail and it's engine, chewing through the airframe and catching the fuel lines. The MiG exploded in a ball of fire as Blaze took to a higher altitude.

"Tower, sitrep." Blaze barked into the com.

"_Multiple attackers with twelve Tu-95 Bear Bombers inbound from vector 280."_

Blaze acknowledged the information and went on the hunt. Two more MiGs fell prey to his guns and one Bear dropped form the sky in smoky debris curtsey of one of the Falcon's six AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. Blaze kept his head on a swivel as things seemed to be going in their favor. He really didn't pay any attention to Kei's report on Pops, but upon hearing Chopper's surprise at someone pulling Captain Bartlett's replacement F-5 out, he spoke up.

"This is Blaze. Whose that still down their in the F-5?" He called as He watched another bomber smash into the ocean, another victim of Wardog squad.

"_This is A1C Grimm, I'm taking off." _the timid voice responded.

Blaze was about to tell him to get that plane up as soon as he could when Chopper beat him to the com.

"_The Hell you are! You're not even out of replacement pilot training left. Aren't there any other pilots around?"_

"_There's no time. Hurry up Grimm, I'll cover you." _Kei spoke, trying to keep the kid from freaking out.

"_Roger."_

John nodded his head in approval and informed Chopper they would be supporting Grimm as the young pilot taxied and got airborne. Blaze wasn't sure, but he could of swore he caught Chopper muttering he wasn't a babysitter. John didn't feel like reminding Chopper that the kid had beaten him in the simulator multiple times. He knew Hans could do this and he would be a better asset up here than down on the ground. John snapped his Falcon around as a MiG danced around his gun sights. This guy was good…but John was better and proved this buy burying several M61 rounds into his back as the MiG tried to whip around to get on John's tail. The rounds punched fist sized holes into the airframe and literally broke it's back. John watched in amazement as the plane seemed to fall apart. He tore his eyes away from the display just in time to see Grimm get airborne and Chopper ordering him to give him some cover.

"Pair up again, eh Edge?" John joked as he popped flares and shot his plane to the left, allowing a missile to sail with in scant feet of his wingtip.

Kei laughed as she sent a stream of lead from her Tiger into the nearest, and final Bomber's cockpit.

"_You take me to such great places and such nice people." _She joked as the Bomber slowly fell toward the ocean, now nothing more than a dead stick.

John was about to retort when Ford's voice came in over his com. He must have missed his earlier message, because he was somewhat surprised that he was here.

"_Sand Island, I'm out of fuel. Requesting permission to land."_

"What?" Blaze shouted as Chopper did the same thing.

"_What are you, insane?"_ Chopper demanded.

The cocky and arrogant voice came back just as quickly.

"_Second Lieutenant Davenport, is that you?"_

"_Yes sir."_

"_Remind me to write you up after I land!"_ The heated retort came back.

"Sir! Missile! Evade!" Blaze called out.

But the idiot froze, having not had any kind of combat experience in years and that spelled his doom. Had a not so arrogant man been behind the controls, the F-15 E Strike Eagle would have been able to avoid the hit. Instead, the missile smashed right into the cockpit, blowing the forward section off, or at least what was left of it after the payload detonated. The remaining half sailed into the ocean, it's engines sputtering uselessly. Blaze didn't feel anything for the death of the man, only the frustration of losing another plane that would have been of use to them. His Falcon screamed through the skies as he and his squad hunted down the last of the bombers that had been trying to slink in under the radar. Blaze was only down to his guns as the final enemy plane was splashed just as he ran dry. He let out a sigh of relief as Tower gave them the all clear.

"Wardog, report in." He ordered as he unfastened his mask.

"_Wardog Two here. No damage to report, sir." _Kei responded.

He glanced over at her tiger noting the single AIM-9 she had and he was please to see no damage on her aircraft from his view.

"_Wardog Three here. I'm good." _Chopper sounded the most relieved and very tired.

"_Wardog Four. I'm green sir." _The newest pilot sounded off, his voice sounding shaky.

"Wardog Four, you did good kid. You flew pretty well for your first combat sortie." Blaze told Archer over the com.

"_Thank you sir. It was because of your support." _Archer told him, his happiness apparent over the com.

Blaze chuckled as he and his flight turned back toward base to land.

"Just don't let it go to your head Grimm. Things are just going to get harder."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John and the rest of Wardog stood at parade rest in the Colonel's office as he went over the after action report. John had hoped it would be over quickly, but that hope was dashed when the Base Commander looked angrily at him.

"And you! You realize your inactions caused the death of a great man? You let your history with Ford get the better of you and decided to get revenge on him by allowing him to die!"

That was the final straw. John was an even tempered man and it took a lot to make him blow up on someone, especially a superior officer. But it now was flowing out like a firehose.

"If he hadn't been a damn idiot, and proceeded to scream at my pilots, he'd have heard my warning about the incoming missile! He froze, and he died. He is the one at fault!" John yelled back.

The Colonel rose from his seat and narrowed his eyes at John.

"Listen here you Usean piece of shit! Ford was a great man and a damn good pilot! He-"

"He was an arrogant and bullying shitbag! He shouldn't have been in a plane let alone commanding fighter pilots. The only thing I regret is the fact that we could have used that Eagle in the air battle instead of him holding just out of range!" John shot back.

The Colonel opened his mouth to speak when the door slammed open. John looked back and almost froze, but reacted quickly.

"Attention on deck!" he barked out.

The man in the door way waved them off as he walked right up to the Colonel's desk.

"You and I need to have words." He growled out before he turned to face Wardog,

Kei felt her eyes widen as Chopper seemed shocked beyond word. Grimm just looked uneasy and scared as he hoped he wasn't about to get chewed out as well for disobeying Pop's orders to stay on the ground. The man in front of them was easily six foot even, his dark brown hair speckled with grey and his blue eyes looking like hardened steel, with few wrinkles around them. Two stars adorned his shoulders as the insignia caught their attention. What looked like a blue ribbion twisted into and eight angled diagonally with a plane silhouette flying through the bottom opening and baring the slogan Mobius - 118th Tactical Fighter Wing. The name tape held the name Shepard and each of Wardog was very surprised, except John who was more shocked at the man's appearance.

"Wardog, you are dismissed. I'll be talking with each of you sometime later." He told them calmly.

John and his squad saluted and left the office where Kei and the others lost sight of John. Kei told the others to go on with out her and began looking for John, finding him some twenty minutes later outside in the smoke pit, taking a drag off the cigarette in his hand. He looked over and guestered for Kei to come over, which she did and took a seat on the concrete wall that sat round the smoke pit. John exhaled before he spoke.

"Well, I guess I need to come clean huh?" He asked.

Kei nodded and John lowered himself down to sit on the low wall.

"Ford and I had a past, so to speak. And it ties in with my Dad showing up just now as well." He told her.

"That was your father?" Kei asked, looking for confirmation.

"Yeah. General Cameron Shepard of the ISAF Air Force, call sign Mobius One." he answered.

Kei felt shock course through her as she mentally beat herself up for not recognizing the name sooner. John continued his explanation.

"About 12 years ago, tensions between Usea and Erusia started heating up. My Dad was worried about me and my mom and sent us here to Osea to live with my grandparents on my mother's side. We were on a civilian airliner…and had almost made it here when that shitstain Ford fucked everything up." John growled out. "Apparently, our transponder was broadcasting a frequency similar to the Belkan military transport code. Then Captain Ford had been leading his flight out to intercept and ID our plane. Shouldn't have caused any panic, but the arrogant bastard armed his weapons systems and locked on to our plane. When our pilot, who was of Belkan descent radio back to the challenge, Ford freaked and fired and AIM-120 at the plane. The missile was self destructed by the AWACS before it could hit. But it was too late. The missile exploded right over the middle of the plane. The explosion tore through the hull and killed sixteen people, including my mother who covered me with her own body to save my life. The aircrew reacted as quickly as they could and managed to do a water landing a few miles off the coast and got everyone of us that survived off the plane. I saw the after action report and was at Ford's trial where he was just given a slap on the wrist and removed from flying anything other than a desk. So I stayed in Osea with my grandparents and my Dad stayed in Usea and ended up getting sucked into another war not long after that." Blaze explained and killed his red a Kei absorbed his story.

"I…I don't know what to say Blaze. I didn't like Ford myself either since he was a sexist bastard and always looked down on me because I am a woman. But you…I don't know what to say." Kei finally spoke.

John shook his head and smiled at her.

"Just…don't tell anyone yet, alright? And thanks. Thanks for listening." he told her quietly before looking over her shoulder.

She quickly rose as the man now known as General Shepard made his way over to them. Kei saluted and quickly excused herself as the two men stood awkwardly before the older man pulled out a pack of smokes himself and let one up.

"We have much to talk about Johnny."


	4. Chapter 4

Greetings, greetings! So for the month to two month long hiatus. Been a lot of things on my mind and a lot of stuff I've been up to. Anyway, this chapter is somewhat shorter than normal, but it was fun to write. Well, I suppose you want to read the chapter now so go ahead, just don't forget to leave a review.

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><p>Chapter IV Aces Past Present and Future<p>

John waited as his father took a seat across from him and took a drag off his cigarette. The two sat in silence before Cameron spoke.

"We've discovered something interesting about this war of yours."

John cocked an eyebrow and waited for his father to continue..

"ISAF has been doing a little digging into this war and what was found was surprising. I was already on my way here when your message was routed to me anyway. ISAF wanted us here to look deeper into the situation."

"A training unit cover I take it?" John asked as he stretched out his arm.

Cameron nodded his head and cracked his neck before he spoke again.

"Yeah they figured it would be the best way to get us in. I requested we be assigned to Sand Island so I could see my son in action." He grinned.

John shook his head and sat back on the bench.

"Well, sadly I've had to use most of the tricks you taught me. So how's Grandpa doing? Last I heard he was enjoying his retirement in Usito."

Cameron cracked a grin.

"He's itching to take to the skies again. Hell, I had to talk him out of coming down here to help out."

John snorted.

"What's it been? Thirteen years since he was in a plane? Still think he's any good?"

"I maybe the 'Ace of Aces' but even I'm not crazy enough to go after the 'Demon Lord of the Round Table'. And I flew into Megalith!" Cameron laughed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John checked the radar of his Falcon once more before looking back out over the cloud tops. Chopper had complained briefly about the mission, but had agreed it was necessary. Today was a simple mission. Protect the Carriers Kestrel, Buzzard, and Vulture as they moved into the inland sea. He had to agree that it looked like an aluminum cloud over the carrier as Chopper started whining about going back home.

"_Wardog Three, I told you to hold above the carrier for the refueling craft. Quit whining and follow your orders." _Thunderhead snapped.

Blaze chuckled as he heard Chopper mutter something about someone with no sense of empathy. He reflected that not even twelve hours ago, he was placed a permanent lead of Wardog, something that Hamilton had pushed through. The Base Commander hadn't been happy, but had confirmed it none the less. Blaze decided to step in before Chopper said something stupid.

"Easy Three. It's not all bad. Think about it…you could be freezing what small balls that you have off up at Heirelark." Blaze joked.

Chopper's retort was cut off by Blaze's radio blaring to life.

"_Wardog Leader, this is Mobius One. I've got contacts on radar just north east of you. You have a visual?"_

"_I got contacts on mine as well. Think it's a glitch?" _Archer asked.

"We're about to find out. Mobius One, request you take up position over the Kestrel while we check this out, over."

"_Roger that Wardog Lead."_

John watched as four F-22/A Raptor Air Dominance Fighters shot past them to cover the hole that would open with their departure. John pushed his throttle forward, feeling his jet rumble as it's powerful engine kicked it up a notch and Wardog hurtled toward the unknown contacts. The question that was lingering on their minds was answered by a stream of tracers shooting at them. John cursed and violently juked his craft out of the way, his stall warning blaring at him in an annoyed manner.

"Contact! Thunderhead, we have hostile contacts inbound!" He reported as he latched onto the enemy fighter, which happened to be an AV8B harrier.

The Harrier pilot was smart as he slammed his throttle forward and diving to the deck, using the powerful engines on the harrier to try and put some distance between him, and the angry Falcon screaming down at him. John was impressed as the enemy pilot used his hover mode on his harrier and Blaze shot down past him. The hunter had become the hunted as Blaze crused briefly, throwing his plan into an impressive list of evasive tactics as tracers burned by his Falcon.

"Damn. This guy just won't give up. Alright. Lets see you keep up with this!"

The Falcon shot upwards and leveled out at 10,000 feet, weaving this way and that as streams of tracers danced around him. John shoved his throttle to max and pulled up before yanking the throttle to idle, letting his plane practically flip over the harrier. John wasted no time putting round after round into the enemy plane that burst into flames and dropped into the waves below. Wardog began hunting. The four planes knifed through the skies, searching for targets when Kei brought up a chilling thought.

"_The weather is terrible and the carriers can only move forward. This is the perfect time for an ambush lead."_

"Yeah. This is a little to coincidental for my liking two. Let's swat these annoying flies down and get back to the Kestral." John advised as he let loose one of his sidewinders.

The missile flew straight and true and knocked an enemy Falcon from the sky that had been creeping up on Archer. The Falcon shattered in half and John shot by hunting for his next target. He spotted an F-35 tangling with one of the Mobius planes and decided to lend a hand. The Mobius Pilot seemed to catch onto what Blaze was intending and turned toward him. The two planes soared toward each other until the Mobius pilot pulled up as John went inverted just in time to place close to fifteen rounds into the front of the 35 that had been trying to score a kill. John could hear the debris ping off his airframe as he dived toward the deck, righting himself about 100 feet from the surface. The Mobius plane joined him on his right side and flashed him a thumbs up before they split off, going after more targets. After what felt like an endless wave of Mirages, Tornados, and even few more F-35s carrying anti ship missiles, John let out the breath that felt he had been holding for the half hour air battle. He open the squad channel and told Wardog to report in.

"_This is Edge. I'm almost at Joker. Only have half on my guns with one AIM-9 and no slammers." _She reported.

"_Wardog three here. I've got some fuel to spare, but approaching Joker soon enough. Have no winders, but I've got two slammers and quarter on my guns."_

"_At Joker, no guns, both sidewinders and one slammer Captain."_

John checked his display and noted he was almost at Joker as well with no sidewinders, half guns and one slammer sitting on his wings.

"Mobius One, this is Wardog One. We're looking at having to either RTB soon or put down on the carriers to refuel and rearm. What about you?"

"_Mobius one here. We're pretty much alright on fuel. Low on ammo, but still able to fight."_

Before John could respond, a sudden call came over the comms that made his gut clench.

"_Incoming ballistic missile! All planes, break, break!" _The panicked call came.

John sent his Falcon screaming on afterburners away from the potential blast zone, knowing it probably wouldn't do any good as if it was a nuke, they'd go down anyway. Thunderhead put some relief to his tension when he informed then it wasn't carrying a nuclear warhead, but seeing the explosion as it detonated made him wonder if it was. He looked at his rader and felt his jaw drop.

"Oh shit. Allied squadron wiped out!"

"_This is Mobius One. All aircraft, get your asses above 5,000 feet! Now!"_

John saw his father's F-22 shoot upwards on full burners as Thunderhead gave the warning that two more missiles were inbound, about thirty seconds apart. John yanked back his stick and lit his burners, his altimeter a blur as the altitude climbed.

"MOVE YOUR ASSES WARDOG!" He barked into his mic.

Behind him, three F-5 Tigers shot upwards at over 700 miles per hour.

"_Are they sure it's 5,000?" _Archer asked.

"Just get your ass above 5,000 Grim!" Blaze snapped as he leveled out at 8,000 feet.

He wanted a good safety buffer between them and the explosion just in case 5,000 was correct. He sighed with relief as he spotted his pilots climbing up to him as the next missile detonated. Six tomcats weren't able to make it and John watched them spiraling down toward the waves. He only saw four chutes as the Tomcats smashed into the waves. The second warhead detonated thirty seconds later, but luckily no more planes were lost. However, the Buzzard and the Vulture were now listing on their sides and slipping beneath the waves. For a moment, John feared that they had failed before he heard the voice of Captain Anderson calling for a check in.

"This is Wardog Leader. We're still here sir."

"_So is Mobius Squadron."_

"_This is Swordsman. Most of the Jolly Rogers are here. We lost three Captain."_

John wanted to punch his console before Thunderhead cut in.

"_Wardog and Mobius. We can't vector a tanker to you unfortunately."_

"_Why the hell not?" _Chopper demanded.

"_Enemy plane intercepted and shot it down before the engagement. Continue along course zero four zero and land at Heirelark. Orders will follow. Good job people."_

Chopper cut in on the coms, anger in his voice.

"_Hey Kid!"_

"_You really should start calling him Captain now." _Grim chastised the older pilot.

"_Forget it. If he's a captain, then I want him to start trash talking like a captain."_

"_You watch your mouth Davenport. If it weren't for him, your cocky ass would be smoldering debris." _Mobius Two shot over the com.

"_That's right. And I'm not going to lose my lead every again."_

John had more on his mind then some mouthy pilot at the moment so he didn't even let Chopper's anger get to him.

"Hey, Dad. You okay?"

He knew what was going through his father's head. Stonehenge had been a similar weapons system and he had seen many good pilots die and today had been a very disturbing reminder of that battle.

"_I'm alright. Just…too similar to Stonehenge."_

"_It's gonna be alright Boss."_

"_Yeah. You got through that, and you'll get us through this!"_

"_A giant gun didn't kill me so some over powered bomb isn't either."_

John had to chuckle at Mobius Four's response as the eight warplanes leveled out at 15,000 feet and began the hour longs flight to Heirelark. John was silent most of the flight, keeping an eye on his gauges as they approached the base. Memories of his time here came to mind. He felt a sudden surge of sadness as he spotted the mountain his sister had crashed into not even five months ago. John decided he'd pay the crash site a visit and talk to her. Wardog and Mobius landed without any incident, which John was just happy to get on the ground as he was running on fumes. The eight pilots dismounted from their fighters and proceeded to make their way to the base Commander, Colonel Stenson, an old fighter jockey who while tough, was fair and a generally friendly man. He greeted them before laying down the plan. Which was simple. Wardog and Mobius would escourt every pilot with any kind of combat training back to Sand Island to reinforce the western border until the replacements from the east coast transferred over. John frowned at the thought that these kids would be sent into a war so quickly. The Colonel spotted the look.

"I know Lieutenant. I don't like it anymore than you, but I've got my hands tied on this one."

"That's a bullshit order Stenson. We all know it." Cameron spoke.

"That maybe so sir. But we really have no other option. I'd rather have the roles reversed, sending these nuggets to the east coast as the eastern squadrons head to the west coast. believe me, General. I've tried everything, but command won't listen to reason."

Cameron shook his head and walked out the office to find the rest of his flight before the Colonel dismissed Wardog. They had managed to find their way to the rec room and John dropped into the first chair he could find as Kei and Hans looked for something to do. Chopper had, to the rest of his squads dismay, found a group of students who had recognized them from the article Gennette had wrote a week ago. And John groaned because he knew Chopper would give the kids here a move by move retelling of each of their missions. John did hope that he wouldn't be dragged in but that went out the window when he heard his name.

"…And then Blaze does this werid move. I've never seen someone evade a missile by flying head long into it and popping flares just before twisting away in a high G turn. It must have been a move his dad taught him." Chopper finished.

"Yeah, I did. It saved my life a few times. But you seem to deflect missiles with the amount of words that spew from your mouth Davenport." Cameron spoke up as he and the rest of Mobius squadron entered the rec room as the cadets snickered and Chopper looked like someone had kicked him in the shins. "At ease. I'm just here to relax."

The cadets looked stunned to see the one and only Mobius One in the same room as them. John shook his head at their fascination and simply grabbed the coffee that Kei offered him. He sent her a silent thanks and the two sat in silence and listened to the stories that the Ace of Aces began to tell. All in all, it was a peaceful night. But John knew that the hardest part was still so come. And a dark forboding feeling settled into his gut that this war was far from over.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 A Dove For The Princess

John walked into the common area sometime after midnight, a cup of coffee in hand as he made his way to the nearest window. He could see the aristrip, it's lights shining in the darkness. He could see the beginning of the snowfall as the wind gentle blew the flakes around. John smiled slightly before he took a sip of his coffee.

"It's a beautiful sight son."

John didn't even look back over his shoulder as his Father walked up beside him.

"Yeah it is. It's peaceful. Just wish I wasn't taking twelve untrained nuggets back to Sand Island. Command has seem to lost it's mind." He said bitterly as he sipped his coffee.

Cameron regarded his son quietly. The younger Shepard looked older than he actually was. He looked ragged, and Cameron could understand that.

"Back when the Continental War began, I was a First Lieutenant sitting on alert one on the ISAF Carrier _Enterprise._ From the moment I launched, I was fighting for my life in a war that was the worst ISAF had seen. Even the rebellion wasn't as bad as the war with Erusia. But that last battle…young pilots, not much more seasoned than these nuggets, fought bravely. I lost quite a few under my command. But I'll tell you this." Cameron placed his hand on John shoulder, making him look at his father. "Believe in them. They may surprise you."

John nodded his head and finished his coffee. As was, he knew something horrible was still to come.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Mike walked briskly through the hanger. He'd been feeling the itch for some time to get back in the air, but really didn't have a good reason. Now he did. After hearing of the war between Osea and Yuketobania, he did a little digging. Something about it didn't sit right with him. And now he knew why. He'd come across evidence that Belka was involved. Once he came across that, it all fell into place. What better why for them to get revenge for the war fifteen years ago than to have the two allies bleed each other dry? Then surge south and reclaim what they considered theirs. Mike was not about to let the happen as he stopped by his plane. A single F-15 sat in this hanger. It's white and blue paint seeming to be almost glowing, as if this old bird was coming back to life. And in a sense, it was. It's hard points loaded to bare. Four AIM-9M Sidewinders on the wing pylons with four AIM-120 AMRAAMs on her fuselage with a full gun of 510 20 mm M61 Vulcan 6 barreled gatling gun ammunition. Mike felt a dark grin spread across his face as the image of a bright red canine with a chain wound around it's body glared ahead, the name GALM, 66th Air Force Unit under the animal.

"Guess what Belka? The Demon Lord is back and coming for you." He growled into the empty hanger.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John walked quickly to the Base commanders office. The Colonel had summoned him here early, saying he had some good news for him. John hoped it was that the nuggets would be staying here longer, but knew it probably wasn't going to happen. He walked briskly into his office and snapped a crisp salute.

"First Lieutenant John Shepard reporting as ordered, sir."

The Colonel smiled.

"At ease Lieutenant. First and foremost, I just received word from Command that your promotion has been approved." The colonel rose and walked around the desk.

John felt numb, wondering if it was a dream until he felt his silver bar removed from his flight suit and the twin bars of a Captain put in their place. The Colonel smiled and shook his hand.

"Congraulations Captain. Now the good news doesn't end yet. Apparently, Command also has planes that are meant for Wardog squad that were going to be sent down within the week. Since you are already here, they want you to take them now. Their in hanger six and I figured you and your squad would like to look them over."

John stammered out his thanks and quickly rushed to find his wingmen, who looked happy and surprised at his news before rushing with him to hanger six. Inside where four brand new planes for them, and each was a different plane. Something John had put into his request, were specific planes for each pilot in wardog. And Command seemed to agree because each suggested plane was sitting in front of him. For Archer, he recommended the F-15C because of it's ready use of SARH Missiles.. He'd seen Archer in the simulator and saw he tended to use that weapon system the most and with a very high degree of accuracy. John himself had been taken out last week when they did it for fun. He really did have a talent for long range combat. Next up was Chopper. For his hyper active and rocking roll addicted wingman, he had recommened the F-2A. It had good armor, good speed, and good mobility. He suggested this one as Chopper tended to be partial to ground attack, which the F-2A allowed him to carry GPB on it's belly or even switch them out for LASMs or even XAAMs depending on his particular mission. For Edge…well, her's was more of a well rounded plane. The JAS-39C. It was a multirole fighter, and it's Omni pylons allowed all different payloads to be added on. It was fast, deadly, and agile, something that suited Kei. John had to shake his head and look away from her and felt his eyes land on his plane. It was the same type that his father had nightmares about. The SU-37 'Terminator', the signature plane of the Yellow Squadron. The plane was sleek, beautiful, and deadly, gliding through the sky much like a shark glides through the ocean. John walked around her, not to happy with the Osean coloring, but put that aside as he saw his number along the side of her nose with Kirk's head, baring teeth and all stood proudly on her tail. And under the cockpit canopy, in stenciled black letters bore the name "Capt John 'Blaze' Shepard". He grinned as he circled his plane, hearing Chopper let out a low whistle.

"Damn sir. You really pulled through for us. We'll be a hell of a lot more effective with these planes."

John dropped below his plane, grinning at Alvin.

"The plane don't make the pilot Chopper. The pilot makes the plane."

Chopper chuckled and continued to look his own aircraft over as Kei seemed to be staring at hers with something akin to surprise.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"This is a high end fighter, sir. The fact that they're giving them to us means they expect this war to last for awhile."

John nodded his head in agreement.

"Or they plan to end it quickly and want us better armed for harder missions." he offered.

Kei nodded and ran her hand across her aircrafts nose.

"This…war is going to be hard on all of us." She muttered.

John stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It will be. That much is true. But at the end of it, we'll hopefully be in a happy and peaceful future."

Kei smiled and nodded, giving his hand a small squeeze before she looked back over her plane. John turned and saw his father enter the hanger and give the Terminator a long hard gaze as John walked beside him.

"Never thought I'd have to fly with one of these off my wing." He commented.

"I didn't feel right requesting a Raptor. It's a good plane, but I get a werid feeling if I picture myself in it." John admitted.

"Yeah, your Grandfather always said never to fly a plane you weren't comfortable with. Said if you forced it, it was akin to bad luck. Look at his old wingman, Solo Wing. Bastard thought he could force a plane that didn't match his own skills and lost." Cameron told him, walking around John's plane.

"Yeah. It's just…I don't think I ready for a Raptor yet. Granted, the Terminator is on par with it, but still…it's just a weird feeling I guess." He muttered.

Cameron glanced back at him as he ran a hand over it's wing.

"Trust me. I understand. The one time I forced a plane, well, let's just say it was the closest I had ever came to getting shot down. You remember that story right?"

John nodded.

"Yeah. You'd been flying a MiG-29 and just felt wrong. Got into a dog fight over Erusia with two Foxhounds and two 27s and almost didn't make it back. Had a flame out on engine one and had a few bullet holes along the nose that fried your avionics." He answered.

"So you don't have to explain to me why. Besides, it's a little ironic that the same plane that almost killed me several times is now being flown by my son. All we need now is for your Grandpa to show up in his old F-15 and things would be a hell of a lot more interesting."

John laughed and went back to looking at his own plane. No matter what happened, or how long this war lasted, John knew he and his team would survive.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John graoned as once again, he and his team finished another loop over the runway. The Nuggets were scared shitless for some reason about this landing and John knew Pops would have their asses for the stress they were putting on the landing gear. The F-5 may be carrier capable, but those parts don't last forever. Finally, the controller came in over the com.

"_Wardog One, this is McNealy Tower. Climb to six thousand and make best speed along heading 250. A tanker will meet you enroute."_

"Tower this is Wardog one. What's wrong?" He asked over the mic.

"_Basset Space Center just got multiple hits on radar. Just climb to six thousand and head along course two five zero. Tanker will meet you along the way."_

"Roger. You heard him Wardog. All nuggets, stay on the ground, but keep on alert." He barked into his com as he and his team climbed to six thousand and rocketed along their heading.

"_You'd think the damn Yukes would play nice. Geez…"_ He heard Chopper groan.

"_Any idea what they could be after sir?" _Archer asked.

The response, surprisingly, came from Kei.

"_The mass driver. It's the only thing that they could be going after."_

"But why? It's not weaponized…"

"_Unless they plan to arm the Arkbird."_ Chopper deduced grimly.

"There's a fun thought." Blaze muttered as the tanker came into view.

It took about twenty minutes to fuel all four planes before they continued on their path. The briefing from the Base Air Command pretty much told them that enemy planes were headed to take out the space center before they could launch the laser module up to the Arkbird, and that they were to protect it at all costs. John groaned. As soon as the entered the airspace, it seemed the enemy had as well.

"Alright Wardog, let's split and engage. Weapons free. Chopper, you and Archer take the west half and Edge and I will take the east half. Make it happen." He ordered and accelerated toward the nearest contact, which happened to be a Yuke F-16. John almost felt bad as he snap rolled in on his tail and put a few dozen rounds into it's engine, wathcing smoke spew from it before the pilot bailed.

"Bandit down." He growled out and went after the C-130 trying to drop it's cargo.

John saw a tank of all things coming forward and didn't give it a chance to drop as he placed a sidewinder perfectly into the open door of the transport, watching it blow in half.

"Transport down. Heads up wardog. These bastard are carrying ACV. Best guess is maybe three per transport."

"_Roger…Shit I've been spiked! Get him off me Archer!"_

"_Roger. I got him. Break right on three….THREE!"_

Blaze watched as Grim set up his kill perfectly, placing his gun fire right into the back of a MiG-29, shattering it's back.

"Good kill Archer. Keep it up Wardog." he encouraged as he began dancing with two enemy Eagles. "Sorry boys, I'm out of your league." He growled as tracers shot past his canopy.

John slowed down, waiting until he heard his missile lock. The moment he heard that tone, he yanked back on his stick and airbrake, poping his plane up. He watched the Eagle blow right past him as he shot power into his engines and came in on the Eagles ass.

"I got tone…Sweet lock! Blaze; Fox Two!"

The winder leapt from his wing mounts, fire and smoke trailing from it as it smashed into the F-15's left engine, blowing it to pieces. The 15 trailed fire all the way into the hills by the center. No ejection. John pushed that thought aside and went for the last Transport that was trying to come around for another drop. The pilot was either stupid, or brave.

"Switching to AMRAAM. Got tone. Blaze; Fox three!"

The missile shot forward and smashed into the 130 at it's port wing, sending the wing and the C-130 into different directions. The second F-15 Blaze had been hunting for came at him out of the sun, guns spewing rounds at him.

"HOLY SHIT!" John screamed and banked hard right out of the line of fire.

The Eagle stuck to him like a fly to shit. John wasn't able to shake him.

"Someone get this asshole off of me!"

"_Hang on! I'm coming kid!"_

"Hurry up! He's all over me1"

"_Damn boy. Didn't you learn anything from me?" _A new voice came over the com. _"I got tone. Cipher; Fox Two!"_

The F-15 that had been on him exploded in a massive fireball as a new F-15 came screaming past.

"What the Hell? I thought you were retired?" John shot over the com.

Before anymore words between the new comer and John, the BAC radio that they had picked up crusie missiles coming in from four different directions.

"Damn it! Wardog, split and go after those missiles. One plane per axis. Move!" John ordered.

"_This is Mobius One. I've got stealths here."_

"Nice of you to join us. Mind splashing them while we handle the missiles?"

"_Would have been here sooner, but we took a wrong turn at Sipan. Don't worry. We got the stealths."_

John saw the first wave of six missiles flash past him and turned sharply, giving chase. He tried to get his missiles to lock onto them, but they seemed to be coated in in the same radar absorbing material that B-2s were covered with.

"Shit. Guess I'll do this the old fashion way." He growled and switched to guns.

He mashed his trigger and hot read lead shot forth, smashing into one…two….three…four missiles. He glanced at his ammo counter and nodded. He had plenty.

He watched the shoreline grow larger as he blasted the next missile out of the sky and managed to down the last one before he crossed over the beach. He pulled up and away when he heard Archer come over the radio.

"_Oh no! One got by me!"_

John turned around hard and slammed his throttle forward, but he was too late.

"_MASS DRIVER HIT BY CRUSIE MISSILE!"_

"_It's okay! The SSTO passed right over the gap! It's still going!"_

John watched as the SSTO shot upwards at speeds he didn't think he'd be able to attain and watched as it vanished into the sky. He could hear the cheers from the ground crew as Wardog, Mobius, and their new ally joined up.

"_I sorry sir. I ran dry and couldn't get a missile lock."_

Archer seemed to be beating himself up heavily. This wouldn't do.

"It's okay Archer. You did good man. And the SSTO made it to orbit. Don't worry." John told him.

"_Yeah. You did good Archer. I wouldn't trust anyone else watching my back up here man."_

"_Same here Grimm."_

"_Thanks ma'am. Sir."_

"_Well that's a hell of a way to come out of retirement. Sorry about not getting the missiles. Had a few fighters who seemed to take a liking to me."_ The new voice radioed.

John knew exactly who it was, and almost laughed when Kei came on the channel.

"_Excuse me, but just who are you? And why are you here?"_

The voice seemed just as amused.

"_General Micheal Shepard. Usito 66__th__ Air Force Unit. Callsign. As for why I'm here, well I couldn't let you youngin's have all the fun now."_

"_Wait! Are you saying you're…?"_

"Yes Edge. This is Galm One, better known as Cipher…and he's my Grandfather."


	6. AN

If you care please copy, sign and post this.

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	7. Chapter 6

Sorry for the long delay. Been busy these last few months so yeah. Anyway, here's a new chapter for you guys. Enjoy.

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><p>John looked over his Terminator once more before leaving the hanger, mumbling his greeting to Pops as they prepared for their next mission. Not even on Sand Island for twelve hours and Yuktobonia had already decided to launch their next offensive. This time they were targeting the airfield with a full assault force. Satellite images showed the Yukes less than forty minutes out and now he had orders from the Base Commander to take all available pilots up with him to fight the enemy off. As much as he hated to admit it, Perrault had been right that they need the extra firepower. Mobius had been called back to ISAF for a secret mission, so they wouldn't be able to help. As is, John felt drained. The constant wear and tear he and his pilots had been put through was starting to show. He just hoped they get a break after this to unwind and relax. Even war fighters needed a chance to rest. He sighed as he entered the briefing room and saw his squadron ready and waiting orders. Even reinforced by twelve fresh pilots and one old mercenary did nothing to ease his nerves. This mission would be a turning point and he would be damned if they lost this battle. John took his place at the front of the room and cleared his throat as the projector kicked on and the airspace for their engagement was placed on the screen behind him.<p>

"Alright. I'm going to make this quick and simple as we don't have tome to waste."

Every eye locked on him as he spoke.

"Enemy forces are enroute to Sand Island. Either to take it as a forward launching point into Osea, or just flat out destroy it. Their objective doesn't matter. All that matters is we stop them."

The slide changed, highlighting eight larger ships.

"Our primary targets are these landing ships. Intel believes if we destroy enough of them, we will cripple their advance and hopefully, they'll pull back and leave us be, Secondary targets are the enemy frigates that will no doubt do their best to rain eight kinds of hell on Sand Island." He paused and looked over the crowd. "I plan to prevent this. Three of you nuggets will be under the direct command of one of my pilots. Rosters are as follows; Beemer, Whiplash, and Maverick, you three will be with me. You are Wardog Five through seven. Hollywood, Dagger, and Slider. You three are with Edge. Wardog eight through ten are you three. Iceman, Viper, and Stinger are Choppers problem now." He joked with a grin.

Chopper shook his head, but was smiling all the same. Cipher just stood back and smirked. It was good to lighten the atmosphere before a mission. A tense man makes mistakes, but too relaxed will get you killed. it's a fine line.

"And finally I want Jester, Goose, and Wolfman with Archer." He immediately noticed a look of disgust from Wolfman. "Is their a problem Lieutenant? You have a problem with taking orders from a pilot that has more combat experience than you?"

The kid gulped before he responded.

"N-no sir."

John glared at him.

"Good. Because if I find out you failed to obey him, I will drum your ass right out of my squadron. You all have ten minutes to be behind your controls and be ready to take off. I will issue your following orders once we are in the air. Flight leaders, hold back for load out information. Rest of you, dismissed." He barked.

The rookies filed out quickly as their flight leads made their way to John. He didn't waste any time.

"Alright. Edge, your flight will be strictly air to air. Pops already has your flight ready. I want you to keep the skies clear."

She nodded and saluted.

"I will sir."

He smiled lightly before turning to Chopper and Grim.

"Both of you will be predominantly attacker load outs. Chopper, your guys are to go after the landing ships while the frigates are your targets Archer. Remember, all we need to do is sink enough of them and they should fall back. If not, it'll be a very weak ground force. I really doubt they are stupid enough to follow through if they lose enough."

They both nodded as Cipher looked at John quizzically.

"What about you? What is your flight doing?"

"We're taking a mixed load out." He saw Cipher's look and sighed. "Alright, intel says they may deploy the _Scinfaxi _to help tip the scale in the Yukes favor. My orders are, should it be here, to sink it."

The shock on everyone's face was clear as day. John checked his watch before he headed toward the doorway.

"Let's move people. We've got a fleet to sink."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Blaze led his flight high, having decided to sit at four thousand to provide additional top cover for Chopper and Archer, who were sitting around a thousand feet. Edge had her flight sitting at two thousand five hundred and was awaiting targets.

"_This is AWACS Thunderhead to all Oseian forces. Listen up. Enemy fleet has entered Sand Island maritime defense zone. You are cleared to engage at your discretion."_

John looked at his flight before he responded.

"Wardog One copies. What's the ETA to target?" He radioed back.

"_ETA is thirty seconds. You are weapons free."_

"_Ah, I missed that sweet voice. Say…you get that from your mamma's side?" _

John chuckled and shook his head as he heard other snickers from over the com channel. He could sense the slight grin on Thunderhead's face as he responded, trying to keep his amusement out of his voice.

"_Alright wise guy. Cut the chatter and focus on your mission."_

"_But what fun is a battle without entertaining commentary?"_

"_That'll have to wait." _Edge cut in over the com. _"Enemy Tangos dead ahead. Edge, engaging."_

"_Archer; engaging."_

"_Chopper; engaging."_

"_Wolfman; engaging."_

"_Hollywood; engaging."_

"_Iceman; engaging."_

"_Goose; engaging."_

"_Slider; engaging."_

"_Jester; engaging."_

"_Dagger; engaging."_

"_Viper: engaging."_

"_Stinger; engaging."_

"_Beemer; engaging."_

"_Maverick; engaging."_

John felt a surge of pride as the squadron called in. There was only one thing left to do as he gripped his controls, the eerie calm settled over him as his radar started showing targets.

"Roger. Blaze engaging. Let's get um Wardog!"

What ever approval they shouted was lost as he began to feed fuel to his engines and the true fight began.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Edge slammed her throttle into the firewall as her target tried to climb and bank away. But her fighter was able to keep up with the turn no problem. Only problem was, she couldn't get off a missile shot as with the gees this guy was pulling made it a bad idea to even try.

"Fine. You wanna play that way, I can play." She growled as her hands danced across the HOTAS and switched to guns with a simple flick of her thumb.

The MiG danced around some more in her sights when he made a mistake. The enemy pilot tried to pull a high gee turn in an attempt to get on her six. But Edge wasn't stupid. She pulled her turn tighter than his and her pipper fell right on the MiGs back. With out a seconds hesitation, she mashed the trigger and her fighter spewed red death at the MiG, her rounds peppering it's hull and hitting the fuel tanks. The enemy fighter burst into flames and began it's fall into the ocean. But she wasn't going to sit and watch it. She was already peeling off to assist one of the nuggets that had picked up an unfriendly tail. She was impressed with this rookie who was throwing his fighter every which way to avoid the bogey he had on him. She quickly switched back to missiles and was happy to hear tone. With in a split second, she'd pressed the trigger and an AIM-9 leapt off her wing mounts and knifed through the air and directly into the Su-27 that had tried to evade the missile. The Flanker caught the missile to it's right engine and began spiraling out of control as the canopy blew off and it's crew ejected to safety. She glanced over to see Chopper and his team hauling ass towards their first target. She only hoped they'd be able to pull off a victory here.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chopper gnashed his teeth as he and his team flew in low and fast at the first enemy landing ship. They'd leap frog as he explained to them. One fighter in front would fire it's missiles and rotate out with the next plane, going until their ordinance was expended. He just hoped it would work. But his thoughts were pushed aside as his targeting computer sounded it had a lock.

"I got tone! Fox Three! Fox Three!"

Two LASMs leapt off his wings and flew straight and fast, smashing into the enemy landing ships open bay doors as the enemy skipper seemed to be trying to deploy hover craft. Both missiles soared inside and detonated right under the tower. He watched as flames shot out of the open door. Additional explosions began running through the ship as fuel and ammo inside began to catch. Chopper and his team continued on to their next target.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Archer was moving quickly into range for his Harpoons and gripped the controls tightly. This was a war alright. He'd already seen Edge engaged with the enemy fighters and watched as Chopper and his team took off after their targets. Now, it was his turn.

"Come on…come on…yes! I've got lock! Archer; Fox three!"

The AGM-84, better known as the Harpoon, streaked off after the target Archer couldn't yet see. But the missile could see the target and was coming in low and fast. He waited for a few moments before his screen marked it as a hit. The enemy radio chattered increased ten fold it seemed as the target had only been hit, not sunk. Archer grinned darkly and decided to fire another one at them. This one disappeared as quickly as it's fellow had and closed the distance quickly before flying straight up into the air and coming back down, smashing into the frigate amidship. This time, the weapon did a lot more damage as the ships captain decided it would be better to abandon ship than sit onboard a burning and exploding ship.

He locked onto his next target and let loose with another Harpoon and watched it sail away toward another frigate.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Blaze was happy that the battle was going so well, but he had a nagging feeling something wasn't right. Edge and her team had pretty much managed to gain air superiority as most the enemy air assets had been helos with two flights of fighters for air cover. And that didn't sit right with him. Chopper and his team had managed to sink or cripple five of the enemy landing ships, which in itself was a good thing, and his team was still hunting for targets. Archer and his men had taken three frigates out of action with five left. Blaze himself hadn't really done anything. He had his orders and that was to hold off unless the _Scinfaxi _showed up. Once it did, he and his team would blow it to hell.

"_Ballistic missile launch!" _Thunderhead called out.

Blaze snapped his gaze to the sky, looking for it. It was here alright. And now the tough part was coming as Thunderhead confirmed what he feared.

"_Enemy missile is a burst missile with multiple independent war heads. All planes, get above five thousand feet and hold position."_

The squadron radioed back and affirmative and began pulling gees to get above the safety line. All but two pilots. Blaze could hear what was going on.

"_Iceman and Wolfman! Get above five thousand!" _Archer ordered.

"_We'll be fine Archer. So shut your yap." _Wolfman barked back,

Blaze was not going to allow this.

"Both of you, get your asses above five thousand now! That is a direct order!" He snapped.

Either they weren't listening, or didn't care as the next sound he heard from them was that they'd launched their payload at two different frigates, scoring kills. John's next call to them was interrupted by Thunderhead.

"_Stand by…Data link to A-Sat targeting? What the hell is this? Oh…it's counting down by itself." _Thunderhead muttered, aware he was transmitting.

John felt a cold ball form in his gut as another enemy frigate was lost. He was sure they would die. He was sure…well, a sudden beam of light falling from the sky and cutting the burst missile if half made him not so sure anymore.

"What the hell?"

"_Kid! Did you see that?" _Chopper sounded almost speechless…almost.

"I did…it must have come from the Ark Bird."

"_Well, it was a good shot as it managed to kill one of my targets so I'm not complaining."_

John ordered the rest of the squadron to continue their attack as he and his team began their hunt. If it launched another missile, and they could see it, the Ark Bird would be able to hit the damn thing. He was still going to deal with Wolfman and Iceman. Disobeying direct orders was something he would not stand for. The battle was going well for them as the Ark bird managed to down another missile. At least until the _Scinfaxi_ started firing multiple burst missiles.

"Shit! Everyone! Get above five thousand!" He barked.

"_Come on kids! Go! Go! Go!" _Chopper urged as he himself angled his own fighter up on full afterburners.

"_Follow the flight leads!"_

"_No! Not yet! I got the shot!"_

"_Damn it Ice! Break off!"_

"_Just give me ten seconds!"_

"Iceman, break off. Now! That is a direct order!" John snapped into his com.

"_Damn it. Iceman, disengaging."_

John watched him pull away as the first burst missile was halved in the air. But they were still coming. He could hear Kei calling for the Ark Bird to fire again, but John knew it wouldn't be able to as it need to recharge. It wasn't meant to fire like that. Everything seemed to slow down for John as the next burst missile dropped right past him. There were still three rookies below the safety line as it detonated. The screams coming over the radar as they cried for help as the crippled and damaged planes fell toward the ocean. John punched his console as the Anti Submarine Plane Bluehound began feeding data to the Ark Bird.

"Blow those bastards outta the water." He seethed as the Ark Bird counted down to firing.

The laser beam shot from the orbiting ship and slammed into the ocean. John watched as a massive plume of steam shot away from the impact sight. Not much later, the massive form of the _Scinfaxi _emerged, it's hull bearing a red angry mark from the impact of the laser. John snarled in anger as he banked his plane on course for the enemy sub, his team forming up on him.

"_All remaining planes; reform into attack formation." _Kei ordered over the com.

"Negative. All planes, cover my team. Do not, I say again, do not engage the _Scinfaxi_."

He cut his com and locked both his Harpoons on the submarine and waited momentarily before firing them one right after another. His two harpoons were followed by six more from the rest of his team. He watched as all eight smashed against the hull right on the warped hull plating. John cursed as a slew of anti aircraft fire ripped up at him. John avoided the fire and came back around, preparing his AIM-9 sidewinders.

"Fire everything you got!" John ordered to his team.

Streams of bullets and missiles smashed into the hull. John circled around and waited for the smoke to clear and cursed. They'd only managed to open a hole in the hull with all the weapon impacts.

"Wardog! Does anyone have a missile left?" He called out.

"_Got you covered Wardog Leader. Cipher, engaging."_

John watched as the blue trimmed F-15 shot past him in a dive and let loose with sidewinders into the hole before dropping a harpoon right into the main magazine of the sub. John watched as the bow seemed to swell before shattering. The sub began to sink as it took on water. Wardog circled overhead and watched the sub slip beneath the waves and vanish from view. After several seconds of nothing, a massive plume of water as the rest of the ammunition detonated under water. Cheers began to ring through the com as John unclipped his mask and let out a sigh. This battle was over, but now the hard part was still to come.


End file.
